Fluid handling apparatus



Jan. 30, 1940.

C. R. HOUGHTON FLUID HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 12, 1938 INVENTOR ATTORNEY 7 III Patented Jan. 30, 1940 UNITED STATES FLUID HANDLING APPARATUS Carl R. Houghton, Connersville, Ind., assignor to Roots-Oonnersville Blower Corporation, Connersville, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Application January 12, 1938, Serial No. 184,508

6 Claims.

This mvention relates to fluid handling apparatus and more particularly to gas meters and gas pumps and the like.

' One object of the invention is the provision of 5 a fluid handling apparatus, such as gas meter or gas or vacuum pump or the like, in which the material is handled by a plurality of interfitting impellers rotatable in an impeller casing, the arrangement being such that the discharge of material takes place substantially horizontally and. in such manner that liquid or heavy material is cleaned from the bottom of the impeller chamber.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a fluid handling apparatus embodying a lower impeller having at least three lobes, intermeshing with an upper impeller, thebottom of the impeller casing extending substantially horizontally to an outlet opening from a point below the axis of rotation of the three-lobe impeller.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an impeller for fluid handling apparatus, the rolling surface of the impeller being formed of a number of separate curved metal plates welded together and to supporting ribs which project from a carrying shaft.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description, the appended claims, and the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a vertical sectional view of a fluid handling apparatus embodying the present invention, taken centrally of an impeller chamber on line l--l of Fig. 2; I

, Fig. 2 is a section on the line 22 of Fig. 1; and r Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawing by reference numerals, l generally designates the casing of a fluid handling apparatus such asa gas meter or gas or vacuum pump or the like, and herein shown as a gas meter which measures or meters the flow of gas by counting mechanism operated by intermeshingimpellers H and [2 which operate in the impeller chamber l3. The casing preferably comprises end members l5 and I6 and the body member I1, interconnected by bolts or other suitable fastening means so as to provide the impeller chamber l3. At an upper r0 portion of the body member I1, and preferably at a lateral side of the meter is an inlet opening I8 through which the gas is supplied to the impeller chamber l3. At the opposite side of the meter is a horizontally extending outlet opening l9 provided near the bottom of the casing.

The impellers H and I2, as herein shown, are lobed intermeshing members having rolling surfaces which interfit one another, these surfaces preferably being involute curves. The lower impeller has more than two lobes, and the upper impeller may have two or more lobes, the number of lobes of the upper impeller being preferably one less than the number of lobes of the lower impeller. With three lobes or more on the lower impeller, the curved side wall 20 over which the ends of the impeller l2 sweep nearthe lower portion of the casing may be continued substantially horizontally and tangentially by the bottom wall portion 2| to the outlet opening IS, the latter being arranged at one side of the meter. With such a construction any liquid passing into the meter with the gaseous medium measured will be promptly cleaned at the bottom of the impeller casing, preventing the possibilityof an accumulation of liquid in the meter. A liquid accumulation in a meter that has been shut down over an appreciable length of time, especially if the liquid is heavy, or thick, blocks the impeller and prevents its rotation when the gas is turned on, and is quite objectionable, so it has been the practice to arrange the outlet opening of a lobed impeller type of meter so that the discharge takes place in a downward direction from the bottom of the meter, the meter being arranged on supportsor piers and the discharge pipe extending downwardly from the center of the meter base between these piers. The arrangement as herein set forth, however, provides a horizontal discharge of the metered fluid while preventing the possibility of an accumulation of a liquid taking place within the meter, since any liquid carried along into the meter by the flow of gas will drain antifriction bearings 24 and 25 in the end members l5 and I6 of the casing, similar bearings 26 and 21 supporting the shaft 28' of the impeller I2 which is below the impeller II. To provide for the proper timed operation of the two impellers, the shafts 23 and 28 are provided with timing gears 3|] and 3|, intermeshing with one another and operating in the gear chamber 32 at one side of the impeller chamber. One of the shafts 23 or 28 is provided with a suitable counting device 33 indicating or counting the revolutions of the shaft and thus giving an indication of the amount of gas metered. It will be understood that the pressure of the gas supply may be utilized for turning the impellers in the impeller chamber, or the impellers may be positively driven in any suitable manner as desired.

The gears 30 and 3| are preferably provided with teeth having quite long addendum with only enough clearance at the bottom of the teeth to allow free passage of a mating tooth; These gears may be of the character described, for exof curved metal plates 35, 36, 31 and 38 which shaft 23 as indicated at 40.

ample, in Wilkin Patent 1,646,373, October 18, 1927.

Eachof the impellers H and I2 ispreferably constructed of metal plates, of steel or the like,

integrally connected to one another and to its supporting shaft by welded connections. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the impeller H is formed define the rolling surface of the impeller, each of these plates forming a part of the waist and one-half of a lobe, the outer ends of the adjacent plates having a welded connection to one another as indicated at 39, and the waist portions of these plates being welded to one another and to the The weld lines 38, which extend parallel to the shaft axis where the impeller is straighaand which extend at a helical angle where a spiral impeller is employed, preferably project beyond the ends of the curved plates to form a hard seal member at the tip of the impeller lobes where the impeller sweeps across the curved wall of the impeller chamber. The curved plates 35 to 38 are welded as indicated at $3 to supporting transversely extending rib plates ll and t2, and. the latter are welded at their inner ends, as indicated at M,

to the shaft 23. By constructing the impellers of welded steel plates, instead of making them in the usual manner as metal castings, a very desirable construction is provided, as the impeller may be made of light weight with the rolling surfaces of the impeller, which must be accurately made, formed quite economically and accurately in curved plate sections suitably formed to the required shape, and integrally connected to one another and to the supporting ribs,

and welded at the tips of the lobes to provide a hard wear strip extending along the portion of the impeller which engages or sweeps along the curved surface of the impeller chamber.

The impeller 12 is also constructed of curved plate portions 45, each forming a part of the waist and a half of a lobe, the plate portions being welded together as indicated at 46 and welded toradial rib members 48 and to transverse rib plates 4-9 along their lines of contact. The radial plate members 48 and the rib plates 49 are preferably fiat steel plates welded to one another along their lines of contact, and welded to the shaft 28.

While the form of apparatus herein described constitutes a preferred embodiment of the 'in.

vention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to this precise ,iorm of apparatus,

and that changes may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention which is defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. Fluid'handling apparatus of the character described comprising a casing having inlet and' outlet openings and providing an impeller chamber, said inlet opening extending substantially horizontally adjacent the top of the casing and said outlet opening extending substantially horizontally adjacent the bottom of the casing, a

two-lobed impeller and an impeller having more than two lobes rotatably mounted and intermeshing in said chamber, intermeshing gears interconnecting said impellers for timed opera tion, said casing having an arcuate wall with a radius of curvature substantially equal to the maximum radius of the impeller which has more than two lobes andhaving a bottom portion at the bottom of the impeller chamber extending substantially horizontally and substantially tangentially to said arcuate wall from a point below the axis of rotation of' said last-named impeller to said outlet opening.

2. Fluidhandling apparatus of the character described comprising a casing having inlet and outlet openings, said inlet and outletopenings extending substantially horizontally adjacent the top and bottom respectively of the casing and at opposite sides; thereof, a plurality of lobed lnterfitting impellers rotatably mounted one above the other in said casing, intermeshing gears interconnecting said impellers for timed operation, said casing having a bottom portion extending substantially horizontally to said outlet opening from a point below the axis of rotation of the lower impeller.

3. Fluid handling apparatus of the character described comprising a casing having arcuate walls and having inlet and outlet openings, said outlet opening extending substantially horizon tally adjacent the bottom of the casing, a plurality of lobed interfitting impellers rotatablymounted one above the otherin said casing, the lower impeller having more than two lobes and operable along one of said arcuate walls, inter-. meshing. gears interconnecting said impellers for timed operation, said casing having a bottom por- V I tion extending substantially horizontally to said outlet opening from a point below the axis of rdother in said casing, intermeshing gears interconnecting said impellers for timed. operation, said casing having a side portion with a radius of curvature substantially equal to the maximum radius of the lower impeller to interfit therewith 7 and having a bottom portion extending horizontally to said outlet opening tangentially to the bottom of said side portion;

5. A gas meter comprising a casing having inlet and outlet openings with the outlet opening at a side thereof adjacent the bottom of the cas ing, a. three-lobed impeller ro'tatably mounted in the lower portion of said casing, 'a two-lobed im- 50v ed in the upper portion of said casing, intermeshpellerinterfitting therewith and rotatably mounting gears interconnecting said impellers for timed 1 operation, a side of said casinghaving an arcuate curvature fitting the lower impeller and thelower portion of said casing extending substantially horizontally from said arcuate portion to said outlet opening from a point below the axis of rotation of the three-lobed impeller.

6. Fluid handling apparatus of the character described comprising a casing having inlet and outlet passages extending substantially horizon: tally at opposite sides of the casing with the outlet passage at the bottom of the casing, a three lobed impeller rotatably mounted in the lower portion of said casing, a two-lobed impeller interfitting therewith and rotatably mounted in the upper portion of said casing, intermshing gears interconnectingsaid impellers for timed operation, a side of said casing having an arcuate curvature fitting the lower impeller and the lower portion of said casing extending substantially horizontally from said arcuate portion to said outlet passage from a point below the axis of rotation of the three-lobed-impeller. 

